


Of course I care

by carolineisonline



Series: Mademis One Shots [2]
Category: Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye (Tin Can Brothers)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Mild Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, They basically mention Ryan like twice its not much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:42:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27634934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolineisonline/pseuds/carolineisonline
Summary: As she regained consciousness, the first thing she remembers feeling is warm arms around her, holding her around her back and under her legs. The world was still hazy- sensations were fleeting and Artemis couldn't even remember how she got into this situation in the first place.
Relationships: Artemis Schue-Hoyrn/Madison Reynolds
Series: Mademis One Shots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2019781
Comments: 10
Kudos: 31





	Of course I care

**Author's Note:**

> Well Whoopdy-doo, look at that. School has once again taken over and my motivation has been a wreck. I started this over a week ago. Anyway.
> 
> Special shout out to the SAF discord server for some help with deciding what Madison would smell like. I am uncreative and I appreciate the help :)
> 
> Once again, comments and constructive criticisms are very much appreciated.

As she regained consciousness, the first thing she remembered feeling was warm arms around her, holding her around her back and under her legs. And then the smell of pine. It was comforting, but Artemis wasn't really sure why. The world was still hazy- sensations and emotions flying by as Artemis struggled to hold on to anything in particular. She couldn't even remember how she got into this situation in the first place. There was something about... was it a dog? She remembers running, definitely. There was probably a fall involved as well, evident by the sharp stinging on her left knee.

"Are you sure she'll be okay?" someone said.

Another voice, "Yes, she'll be -burp- she'll be fine."

"Are you-"

"Yes, Madison, I'm sure Artemis will be okay." Madison. That was who that first voice was. Her eyes opened slowly, and she was met with two things. One, she had a headache. No big shocker there, as she had just passed out. On a more surprising note, she was in Madison's arms and was clutching the front of Madison's shirt subconsciously. She closed her eyes again to avoid the street lights from aggravating her headache even more, and just let herself enjoy being held. For such a little person, Madison was surprisingly strong and could pick Artemis up with ease. Her jacket smelled like the woods and the button-up shirt she always wore was soft and still had the faint smell of fabric softener on it. She felt Madison walking quickly but carefully into a building, which Artemis recognized almost instantly as the Dead Canary, thanks to its signature smell of booze and extravagant meals. She heard another set of feet jog over to where Madison was standing and a lot of hushed whispering. If only her brain could stop pounding so hard against her skull, she might be able to hear what they were saying. A quiet "Thank you" to the mystery person (presumably Desmond) and a door opened with a creak. Once the click of the door was heard behind them, Artemis finally shifted and groaned, leaning a bit into Madison and grabbing more of her shirt to let her know that she was conscious.

"Artemis?" Madison spoke cautiously. "Are you awake?"

Artemis nodded into her shirt.

"Okay, well I'm going to put you down now, alright?"

"'Kay," Artemis mumbled as she was gently put onto the soft bed. She opened her eyes a bit more and looked around at her surroundings. The room was cozy. There was a singular lamp on in the corner which illuminated the room just enough so she could see around without it hurting her eyes too much. The bed she was on was springy and the pillows were ever so slightly too soft. 

"How are you feeling?" Madison's brow was creased with concern, and she was sitting on a chair close to the headboard of the bed. 

Artemis lifted her arm and threw it over her eyes. "Shitty. My head is pounding and my knee stings."

"I would think so. That was a pretty nasty fall. Do you want some water or anything?" Madison said as she rose from the chair.

"Please," Artemis mumbled from under her coat. She listened as Madison moved across the floor and the door creaked, indicating that she had left the room. What had happened? Ah. That's right. Werewolves had happened. Artemis groaned in frustration and put the palms of her hands over her eyes. Of course there were werewolves in Connor Creek. Nothing is ever ordinary there. All she had wanted was a simple story of corruption during the election of a small town in California. And she got werewolves as a side meal. Typical. After a few seconds, the door opened again and Artemis shifted so she could sit up on her elbows. Madison was reentering with a glass of cold water, a towel, and a first-aid kit. Her jacket had been slung over the chair, and the sleeves of her shirt had been rolled up. 

"Here we are," Madison said, handing her the glass of water. "There's some lemon in it. I hope you don't mind. Quinn wouldn't let Desmond give me plain water," She chuckled, and Artemis smiled appreciatively and took a sip.

"And here's some Advil for your headache," she finished, dropping 3 blue tablets into her hand.

"Thanks," Artemis said as she popped them into her mouth and swallowed them. Then she put the glass of water on the nightstand and flopped back onto the bed. They sat in silence for a moment.

"Do you mind if I take care of that cut? It's not super deep but you fell on the road and it would be a shame if that were to get infected," Madison spoke nervously, tapping her foot on the ground.

"Go ahead. I'm not great with first-aid anyway." Artemis said.

Madison got up and opened the first-aid kit with a click, shuffling around for a few basic supplies. Once she was satisfied with her selection, she rolled up Artemis' pant leg and unwrapped the alcohol pad. 

"This is going to sting a bit," she warned, and then placed it on the cut. Artemis hissed and flinched at the pain, and instinctively brought up her hand to find Madison's, grabbing it tightly. Madison stopped and readjusted her hand so Artemis' would fit inside hers.

"You okay? Do you want me to stop?" Madison asked.

Artemis braced herself and clutched Madison's hand tightly. "No, go ahead. I was just surprised." Madison continued cleaning the cut and Artemis tried to focus on the hand in hers, warm and surprisingly calloused, her thumb soothingly rubbing circles on the back of her hand, but all she could hear was the beating of her heart in her chest. 

"All done!" She said in a cheerful tone, as she put a Hello Kitty band-aid onto her knee, kissed two fingers, pressed them on top of said bandaid, and then beamed at Artemis. Artemis sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, still holding her hand, and smiled at Madison. Then her smile disappeared.

Fuck. 

She was in love. Artemis couldn't believe it took this long for her to figure it out. It was so obvious! The way her stomach flip-flops at the sight of her. How her laugh and smile makes her heart soar and how she always feels like she's at a loss of words when Madison is around. And- and how could she forget about her little "incident"? Artemis had NEVER, not in her many years of journalism, even considered intervening while investigating. And lo and behold, the one time it happens it's because she couldn't stand seeing Madison upset like that. Only Artemis Schue-Hoyrn would have the luck of falling in love with a witness in a literal murder mystery. She withdrew her hand from Madison's much too quickly. The room was not cold by any means, but the absence of Madison's hand had her hand feeling freezing. To cover up the sudden movement, she put her head in her hands.

"Hey, are you alright?" Madison placed her hand on Artemis' back, and something as simple as that made her face flush and she buried her face even deeper into her hands.

"Did I do something wrong or-"

"No, no you didn't do anything wrong," Artemis sighed. She lifted her head out of her hands and instead rested her chin on her fists. "I just-" she paused.

"You just..." Madison repeated, sitting next to Artemis on the bed. She took a deep breath and just let it all out.

"I just really messed up. First I come here thinking 'Oh great! It's going to be a simple story of corruption.' But no! Murder on the first night here. And then another, and then another, and now werewolves? And then I intervened with a story and completely disrespected journalistic integrity. I am no longer a third party observer. What will happen if Lesly finds out? I'll get fired! Actually probably not. Lesly likes me. But the story will completely change, and it'll be even harder to get the truth out of citizens here! And not only that, I almost lost my brother, and you lost yours and-" suddenly Artemis looked over at Madison, and her hands flew to her mouth. Madison's eyes were starting to get puffy. The normally deep chocolate brown that Artemis loved had clouded over a bit and were now waterlogged as she tried to keep the tears from spilling out. 

"Oh my god, I am so sorry Madison. That was so insensitive of me, I don't know what I was thinking." Artemis took Madison's hand again and placed her other hand on top. She tried to ignore the screaming going on in her brain. 

Madison sniffed "It's alright. You aren't responsible for my feelings, Artemis."

"No, I shouldn't have mentioned Ryan so soon. That was my fault." By this point, some tears had leaked out, so Artemis did what felt natural and cupped her face with her hand and wiped away the tear with her thumb. Much to her surprise, Madison leaned into it and placed her hand on top of Artemis'. "I care about you a lot and I don't want to make you feel worse."

Madison smiled and murmured a quiet "Thank you," before closing her eyes and just enjoying Artemis' company. What now? Artemis is more of a statistics person. If only Paul were here, he could tell Artemis what to do. Was now even a good time to tell her that she liked her? Probably not. But Artemis couldn't shake the feeling that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"Hey Madison?"

She opened her eyes and made eye contact with Artemis. "Yeah?"

Shit. This was going to be harder than expected. Deep breaths. Take it slow. She closed her eyes and spoke carefully, "Thank you so much for helping me tonight." Damn it. That wasn't what she wanted to say. 

Naturally, Madison smiled widely and took Artemis' hand off her cheek so she could hold it in front of her. "Of course! What kind of sheriff would I be if I didn't protect the people I care about?"

"You- you care about me?"

"Why wouldn't I? You're kind and passionate, and you're absolutely brilliant. Heck, I think you're smarter than the entire town combined!" Madison chuckled. "You stand up for me. So yes. I do care about you, Artemis Schue-Hoyrn." She was speaking quietly now and had leaned in subconsciously so their foreheads were touching. They sat for a moment, taking each other in. Artemis closed her eyes and finally relaxed for the first time in days.

Suddenly, she felt Madison shift forward and felt lips on hers. It was so gentle and tentative, how Madison's lips barely grazed over hers. Madison smelled of pine and lavender, and her lips were soft and tasted of cherry chapstick. As she pulled away, Artemis opened her eyes and stared at her like an idiot. 

And all of a sudden, Madison's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, my, stars. I am so sorry Artemis. I thought I- I guess I misread the situation. I'm so sorry. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable I-"

Artemis shut her up by closing the distance between them again, more passionately this time. She cupped Madison's cheek and snaked an arm around her waist, drawing her in closer. Madison stiffened in shock, but quickly melted into the contact, placing her hand on the back of her neck and tangling her fingers in her hair. It was slow and soft, but all the same passionate and loving, and everything she could have ever wanted. She moved her hand onto the small of Madison's back, drawing her closer still, and felt Madison smile against her lips. Her headache had disappeared and was replaced with a thousand little bees, all buzzing around in her head, making it impossible to think.

They finally separated after a few moments (Minutes? Hours? Days? Who knows. Time is a construct anyway), and Artemis looked at Madison. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes basically sparkled with affection. Not only that, but she was sporting the biggest smile Artemis has ever seen on her. Not like the one she's been wearing as a disguise after Ryan was killed. A real, genuine smile, that made her eyes crinkle and her posture relax. Then, she started laughing. 

"What's wrong?" Artemis asked nervously. "Why are you laughing?" 

Madison took Artemis' hand and pressed a gentle kiss to her knuckles. "Nothing is wrong. I'm laughing because this is the happiest I've been in a long time."

Artemis smiled and swooped back in to press another kiss to her lips. Everything was going to be fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Can you tell that I've never kissed anyone?


End file.
